Faron Wahl, Manager.

With this unusually challenging spring weather pattern now hopefully behind us, we find ourselves now doubly ready to unveil the sunny outlook on our 2019 season at the village! It will be heralded by several new offerings and promotions, all structured around our staple of traditional events you’ve come to expect and enjoy.

To begin with, we’ll be very deliberate in featuring our newly-restored carousel, fully front-and-center. While many of you joined us for a festive day welcoming her home last August, scores of others could not attend and have indicated how eager they are to re-experience this village cornerstone. The 2019 season literally represents the full inaugural year of coming generations who will continue to encounter the restored wonder of this remarkable machine – one of the last of even similar build still in operation anywhere.

Along those lines, you’ll now be able to capture your visit and take the experience home to share with others. For a small fee, we will take your photo on the horse of your choosing, and then we’ll print and place the quality image in a take-home Prairie Village folder frame for you – all ready to go in just minutes.
What better way to package the fun of visiting this beautiful stable of horses, and furthermore be able share it for years to come on your end table or mantle! Besides many adults showing interest, we know every kid in your clutch is going to need one of these.

As so many visitors choose to camp with us, we’ll be identifying one or two theme weekends this summer – complete with a campsite decorating contest and prizes. And to add even more to the great value and experience Prairie Village camping already offers, you’ll now be able to check out camping games for a few hours at a time from our gift shop (without an additional fee). Currently we have available two of the hottest-reviewed outdoor games, ready for check-out to enjoy back at your campsite!

We’ve got a fantastic platform of opera house entertainers contracted, ready to skillfully grace our stage with three popular genres of music. We’re so grateful to East River Electric and Sioux Valley Energy for their partnership in sponsoring a portion of this year’s concert series. The folks who’ve attended these events over the past couple of years continue to report back to us that they’re amazed at the level of talent we’re able to secure, and how much they thoroughly enjoy those concert evenings.

That said, many others still don’t realize the level of entertainment being offered at a great value right here in our opera house, and we have additional seats we’d love to have you fill. To that end, look for announcements soon regarding our 2019 Concert Series Prize Package, a new promotion that will make one qualifying ticket holder the winner of a grand package sure to get anyone’s attention. Tickets for all shows go on sale opening day (Sunday, May 5) in our gift shop, where you can also learn more about this fun giveaway.

As thousands anticipate each year, our Steam Threshing Jamboree will be back for its 57th run August 22-25. The feature this year? The JI Case Collector’s Summer Show, certain to please by packing the exhibit area with a wide array of displays representing this important major player in the history of farm equipment.

After a huge winter of work and planning, the coming season promises to be a stellar one. By the way, we’ll continue taking consignments for our annual auction right up until 6:00 pm Friday, with the auctioneers’ cries kicking things off at 10:00 am Saturday. And opening day will follow on Sunday, including train rides at 2:00 pm plus our carousel running (weather permitting) with renewed vitality to the charming resonance of calliope music.

Come join us for a season to remember!